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The Friday Pint 2 #11 – Cider and temptation

This week I thought I’d head out and drink some cider. I had intended to visit The Euston Cider tap, yet as lazy as I am, I couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to open at 3pm, and so decided to head for The Southampton Arms instead.

Of course, whilst there is a nice selection of Ciders there, in front of them is 10 tempting beers, not one of which I touched. I was tempted though, certainly by the Dark Star Black. Now that I’ve looked it up though, I suspect I may have been put off if I had know it was made with coffee.

As for my time in The Southampton Arms, I opted, unusually for me, to sit at the end of the bar, next to the piano and the suggestion sheet. This does of course, mean I was open for conversation, and sure enough a brief conversation ensued.

There’s a lot to be said for sitting at a bar. In busy periods I feel uncomfortable doing so, especially when there are other drinkers struggling to get served due to crowds of people standing nearby. In quieter periods though, it can give an insight into the running of a pub, and the drinking habits of it’s customers.

Whilst I was there, the following happened:

One person came in wanting a Guinness, from what he said, I believe he used to visit The Southampton Arms before it became the pub it is today. He was given a try of one of the beers and liked it, yet it was Guinness he wanted, and so off he went.

Two women came in, who had also visited the pub in it’s previous guise. One was refrenced as a “Fosters girl”. She was offered Camden Brewery’s Hells Lager and gave a rather positive response to it.

Several people, including myself, had a pork bap. I’d never had one before, despite having visited several times. It was however, worth every penny of the £4.20 it cost me, not least because it comes adorned with two pieces of delicious crackling.

Some people knew what they were looking for when they came to the bar, others chose with a bit of guidence from the barman. All left seemingly happy with their choice.

Despite saying I’d still be going to pubs, I’ve actually been a lot less than last year. Part of this is weather related. After all, who wants to go out in the rain when they don’t have to. The other is that I’ve felt less compelled to go out to pubs, knowing I won’t be able to buy beer.

Hopefully my pub going will pick up once the weather starts getting better. Until then, I have a bottle collection that is slowly running out of beers I’m willing to drink without having a special occasion as an excuse. Thankfully, the next break isn’t too far away….